Adam Reinhart Digital Portfolio

In Edgar Schein’s “Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling”, the concept of here and now humility is defined as: “quote quote quote” (pg. 12, Schien). I recently experienced its power in action.

I’m leading a career development and training workshop for everyone in my role at my company. I organized a team meeting – although I had an idea of what I thought should be in the proposal for leadership, I let everyone share their thoughts without judgment. Rather than focus on responding to every idea presented, using here and now humility allowed me to effectively listen to what was being said and understand where they saw opportunities. 

As a result of the meeting, the explanation for why the business needed this workshop and how we could frame our objectives when presenting to leadership were simplified and solidified.

Reference: Schein, E. H. (2013). Humble inquire: The gentle art of asking instead of telling. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.